I saw a post on another forum where a guy found some DeForest branded tubes at a yard sale. They were in perfect condition. His preamp can actually use them. I have no use for them but I would have 100% bought them just as a collector’s item. What tube lover could resist these?
I saw a post on another forum where a guy found some DeForest branded tubes at a yard sale. They were in perfect condition. His preamp can actually use them. I have no use for them but I would have 100% bought them just as a collector’s item. What tube lover could resist these?
The 37 globe tubes are some of the worst tubes out there. As the above post states, they are noisy and terribly microphonic. If anyone wants to offload theirs, I'll take them off your hands. No problem
I have two boxes full of 27s. Most are balloon, and out of all of them, only the Sylvania fine mesh plate (not coarse) was above everything. I was lucky to get 8 NoS in original boxes. Then I have all types of others. They are a special tube. I have them in a preamp but would love to make an amp for headphones with them. 27 to 2A3 drivers.
Really enjoying these WWII-era Ken-Rad 12J5GT's. They sound magical in the Blue Halo+ (both in BH and BH+ modes). Very holographic, great detail/texture, and dead silent background.
Surprisingly they don’t sound to me like the other Ken Rad’s I’ve listened to with emphasized bass. They seem to lean to a noticeably drier signature. My VC is sounding like a more holographic/improved version of what I remember the Focal Clear sounding like. The speed/clarity of the VC drivers really shine. I need to dig through the stash to see if I can find a matching 6J5GT variant to see if they sound the same.
Really enjoying these WWII-era Ken-Rad 12J5GT's. They sound magical in the Blue Halo+ (both in BH and BH+ modes). Very holographic, great detail/texture, and dead silent background.
Surprisingly they don’t sound to me like the other Ken Rad’s I’ve listened to with emphasized bass. They seem to lean to a noticeably drier signature. My VC is sounding like a more holographic/improved version of what I remember the Focal Clear sounding like. The speed/clarity of the VC drivers really shine. I need to dig through the stash to see if I can find a matching 6J5GT variant to see if they sound the same.
I bought some of these based on the reputation of the bass but was disappointed in that they didn’t seem any better at it than other tubes. I should revisit them with an open mind and fewer preconceptions.
My normal suspicion would be that your Ken-Rads are actually GE made, but they have the staggered plates which indicate true KR manufacture usually, and these also have the MR stamp making them WWII production and GE didn't fully take over KenRad until after the war.
Sometimes it can really come down to biasing/operating points in the amplifier. The National Union black glass, for example, has a pretty well established reputation for sounding romantic and laid back, but I dropped one into a WA6 a long time ago using an adapter and found it to be lean, bright and fast which goes strongly against the reputation of the tube.
This is why I sometimes regret doing the "review" write ups that I have done. They're fun and I think we all enjoy reading stuff like that but they can be misleading for this reason. That Sylvania 6J5G that I ranked low and didn't care for last year? It sounds MUCH nicer in my 1101 Audio amp and I'm glad I have them now.
I didn't find the KenRad 6J5G tubes I bought to have the "typical" KenRad sound either, although I did really like the sound they were giving me. Sadly they had major noise issues I coudn't resolve, to the point of being unusable and I haven't found another pair since then to try again. Becoming noisy is the one thing that all KenRad tubes seem to truly share as a common trait unfortunately, they're just notorious for it.
My normal suspicion would be that your Ken-Rads are actually GE made, but they have the staggered plates which indicate true KR manufacture usually, and these also have the MR stamp making them WWII production and GE didn't fully take over KenRad until after the war.
Sometimes it can really come down to biasing/operating points in the amplifier. The National Union black glass, for example, has a pretty well established reputation for sounding romantic and laid back, but I dropped one into a WA6 a long time ago using an adapter and found it to be lean, bright and fast which goes strongly against the reputation of the tube.
This is why I sometimes regret doing the "review" write ups that I have done. They're fun and I think we all enjoy reading stuff like that but they can be misleading for this reason. That Sylvania 6J5G that I ranked low and didn't care for last year? It sounds MUCH nicer in my 1101 Audio amp and I'm glad I have them now.
I didn't find the KenRad 6J5G tubes I bought to have the "typical" KenRad sound either, although I did really like the sound they were giving me. Sadly they had major noise issues I coudn't resolve, to the point of being unusable and I haven't found another pair since then to try again. Becoming noisy is the one thing that all KenRad tubes seem to truly share as a common trait unfortunately, they're just notorious for it.
Interesting your point on the National Union black glass...
Have had the same exact (lean/bright/fast) experience with the 6SL7 model on a (6SL7 optimized) amp that makes absolutely beautiful music with the NU clear tops.
You would think the internal specs would be the exactly same and the signatures quite close. But no...
Sorry I don’t know anything about those tubes but wanted to ask if you ever have noise problems using 6j5 in your Supratek. Once I get the volume set everything is fine but adjusting it is noise city.
Sorry I don’t know anything about those tubes but wanted to ask if you ever have noise problems using 6j5 in your Supratek. Once I get the volume set everything is fine but adjusting it is noise city.
I have quite a few 6J5, but they are all extremely quiet in my two headphone amps. Funnily enough, my Supratek preamp that natively takes 6J5 should be arriving this week, so I’ll be able to let you know soon
My normal suspicion would be that your Ken-Rads are actually GE made, but they have the staggered plates which indicate true KR manufacture usually, and these also have the MR stamp making them WWII production and GE didn't fully take over KenRad until after the war.
Sometimes it can really come down to biasing/operating points in the amplifier. The National Union black glass, for example, has a pretty well established reputation for sounding romantic and laid back, but I dropped one into a WA6 a long time ago using an adapter and found it to be lean, bright and fast which goes strongly against the reputation of the tube.
This is why I sometimes regret doing the "review" write ups that I have done. They're fun and I think we all enjoy reading stuff like that but they can be misleading for this reason. That Sylvania 6J5G that I ranked low and didn't care for last year? It sounds MUCH nicer in my 1101 Audio amp and I'm glad I have them now.
I didn't find the KenRad 6J5G tubes I bought to have the "typical" KenRad sound either, although I did really like the sound they were giving me. Sadly they had major noise issues I coudn't resolve, to the point of being unusable and I haven't found another pair since then to try again. Becoming noisy is the one thing that all KenRad tubes seem to truly share as a common trait unfortunately, they're just notorious for it.
I have quite a few 6J5, but they are all extremely quiet in my two headphone amps. Funnily enough, my Supratek preamp that natively takes 6J5 should be arriving this week, so I’ll be able to let you know soon
I suspect my noise issues are a combo of having twice as many tubes (so twice the chance for noise) and using adapters. You’ll be able to avoid the second issues at least
I had thought about getting another Cabernet that uses 6/12j5 tubes but I do love my Marconi, Sylvania, and Brimar 12sn7. It would be a shame to not be able to use them too.
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